Greater New Orleans

Playground safety starts from the ground up

Chris Granger / The Times-PicayuneBen Aiges, 5, climbs one of the new pieces of play equipment at Markey Park in Bywater. Community playgrounds have come a long way in the last 10 years. Who knew about fall zones?

When surgeon and safety expert Barbara Barlow started building public playgrounds in Harlem in the early 1990s, childhood injuries declined by more than 50 percent. Not because the new equipment was safer -- though it was -- but because it simply gave neighborhood kids a place to play.

"Every day, all day, I kept seeing children needlessly injured, " said Barlow, director of surgery at Harlem Hospital in New York City. "We looked into it, and discovered that the area playgrounds were full of deteriorated equipment, so the kids were playing in the streets."

As executive director of the Injury Free Coalition for Kids, Barlow now helps build playgrounds nationwide -- most recently one at Markey Park in New Orleans. The process, she says, has taught her something important. "A playground does amazing things for a community. It empowers and activates people and brings them together."

Bywater mom Erika Knott agrees, though her playground-design experience is limited to a single site: Markey Park. She never intended to get into the playground business, she says. Like most New Orleanians, however, her typically narrow lot didn't allow a big enough yard for proper play equipment.

"When we came back from Katrina, I would drive to City Park, Uptown, wherever, to find places for my kids to play, " said the mother of William, 3 1/2, and Jeremy, 22 months.

Then someone told her about a potential grant from the Allstate Foundation to build a community playscape, so she looked into it, contacting the Bywater Neighborhood Association along the way. Someone on the board was a professional grant writer, and, well, you know how it goes. Suddenly Knott was a neighborhood activist and a playground was in the works.

"I'm meeting people I never knew, and finding out that there are a lot more kids in Bywater than I ever knew, " she said. "Now people are driving to us."

The Markey Park facility combines the best of modern playscape design: Key elements include interactive equipment that draws children's attention and prompts imagination, comfortable seating areas for adults and, of course, proper safety precautions. There are three play areas -- one for younger children, one for older children and a swing set -- as well as a separate area with exercise equipment.

It's a combination that's hard to recreate at home. The rubber surface alone at Markey Park cost $30,000, which was underwritten by the New Orleans Recreation Department.

"I have yet to see home play equipment properly anchored, " Barlow said. "It's very expensive to do a home play area safely."

Here are some considerations when planning playscapes, wherever the equipment goes.

Anchor it. Supporting posts should go into 2 feet of cement.

Cushion it. Poured rubber or rubber tiles are the preferred foundations. At Markey Park, the rubber tiles sit on 4-inch pylons, so that the surface gives and won't crack. Barlow is not a fan of loose-fill cushioning, such as wood chips or shredded rubber, citing sanitation concerns. Plus, she says, if you don't keep replenishing the fill material, it becomes depleted over time.

Plan it well. Choose age-appropriate equipment. Include things to stimulate the imagination, such as musical elements, driving wheels and the like. Slides are probably the most popular features, Barlow says, while a popular new offering is the climbing wall.

Make it safe. The cushioned foundation should extend 6 feet from play equipment, creating a fall zone. Swings should be set apart from other equipment. Elevated platforms should have guard rails, and spaces between elements should be less than 3 1/2 inches or more than 9 inches (a size that children cannot get trapped in). Metal slides can cause burns, and slide platforms should be hooded so kids can't stand up on the slide.

Maintain it. Watch for rust, keep loose fill at 12 inches and check for missing rails, protruding bolts or open S-hooks, all of which can cause injuries.